Holiday in Centralia

March 2009

It’s Tulip Time!

April is next week! Behold, Tulipa gesneriana. Tulips are fortunate to have many fine associations, such as early Spring and Easter. You’ve likely started to see them for sale at your local farmer’s market. They earned a black mark in history, however, when they were popularized during Tulip mania in Holland in the 1630s, resulting […]

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Sleep for Cheap at National Parks Lodges

Olympic National Park is looking like a pretty great destination right now. I’m wild about National Park Lodges, and my two favorites have some steeply cheap specials going on right now. Lake Quinault Lodge and Kalaloch Lodge on the Washington coast are offering rooms starting at $79 a night. I’ve never seen them so cheap […]

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Washington State Parks on the Chopping Block

NOTE: This article was published in March 2009. UPDATE June 26, 2013: Washington State Parks is now funded in part by a user fee, the Discover Pass. However, state funding is a critical piece of the pie and is currently unstable again as the Washington State Legislature must pass a state budget by July 1 to […]

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Road Food

Road food. When you’re on the road, it’s what’s for dinner. Traveling in the Northwest isn’t just about yurts, inns, cabins and B&Bs. One must appreciate the many wonderful, one-of-a-kind cafes, taverns, taco carts and ice-cream parlors to enjoy along the way to your destination. The wide variety of food establishments benefits from the cornucopia […]

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Searching for Hotel Bargains on the Web

You may land the best lodging bargain in the Pacific Northwest these days where you least expect to find one –at nice downtown hotels. Carol Pucci’s article in the Seattle Times this week, Travel slump hits home, but bargains await, was an eye-opener on just how bad things have become for the tourist-dependent hotel industry […]

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Photo Friday: Granville Island Market

Granville Island’s Public Market in Vancouver is a fun place to get just a little bit lost. I always make sure I have plenty of cash in my pocket to get a little of everything… a tin of fine tea, a couple of crab cakes for dinner, fixings for a salad, a bouquet of fresh […]

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My Oregon Coast Yurt Adventure

Below is a guest post from my sister Lesley. Lesley is a master barista, musician and music producer in Seattle. This past October, my boyfriend and I decided to try something a little different for our last hurrah before winter and drove down to the Oregon Coast to stay in a yurt at Nehalem Bay […]

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La Conner B&B Giveaway

Lucky, lucky you. The owners of Queen of the Valley Inn Bed and Breakfast, a charming historic farmhouse B&B in La Conner, Washington, are generously giving away a night’s stay to a lucky Northwest Cheapsleeps reader. To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment below. In the comment, tell us what you […]

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Cascades Escape: Scottish Lakes High Camp

Pssst. I’m writing this blog post in a whisper. Just to the northwest of Leavenworth, Washington, nestled in the Chiwaukum Mountains near larch-ringed lakes, is a very special place. It’s a collection of rustic, cozy cabins near a fabulous network of hiking and ski trails. Indeed, if paradise were found at 5000 feet elevation in […]

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